Cliff Brittle

Benjamin Clifford "Cliff" Brittle (circa 1952 - 11 September 2011) was an English business man and former rugby union player who was the chairman of the Rugby Football Union from 1996 to 1998.

Rugby career

Brittle first played rugby as a student while at Longton High School, and as a senior played for Old Longtonians, Stoke on Trent and most notably for Sale.^[1] He also played county rugby for Staffordshire.In 1996 he took the post of Chairman of the Rugby Football Union, the year after the game of rugby union adopted professionalism. In his role of Chairman, Brittle appointed Fran Cotton as vice-chairman who in turn reconmended Clive Woodward as England head coach.^[2] Brittle's time in office was turbulent; he resisted attempts by club owners and the media to overpay players in a rushed attempt to cash in on the proffesional era. This caused Brittle to be villified by sections of the media, and in 1998 Cotton resigned when Brittle was excluded from talks between the English clubs and the RFU.^[3]

Notes

1. ^ Reason, Mark (18 September 2011). "The game of Rugby has lost a great visionary with the death of former RFU chairman Cliff Brittle". The Telegraph. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/rugbyunion/8764895/The-game-of-Rugby-has-lost-a-great-visionary-with-the-death-of-former-RFU-chairman-Cliff-Brittle.html. Retrieved 18 September 2011. 
2. ^ "'Visionary' RFU boss dies". Sky Sports. 14 September 2011. http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,12321_7177116,00.html. Retrieved 18 September 2011. 
3. ^ "Cotton quits RFU". BBC Sport. 4 April 1998. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sport/rugby_union/74117.stm. Retrieved 18 September 2011. 

Persondata
Name	Brittle, Cliff
Alternative names	Benjamin Clifford Brittle
Short description
Date of birth
Place of birth
Date of death	11 September 2011
Place of death	Isle of Man